In today’s NHL rumors rundown, Rick Bowness is leaving the Winnipeg Jets as head coach. Meanwhile, there could be changes at the top for the Toronto Maple Leafs, specifically when it comes to Brendan Shanahan. There is also chatter the Leafs are ready to move on from some names, but are also looking to extend a few players, including defenseman Jake McCabe. Finally, what’s next for the Vegas Golden Knights after spending huge at the trade deadline and failing to move past the first round of the playoffs?
Bowness to Announce Retirement
TSN’s Darren Dreger reported on Monday: “Coaching news out of Winnipeg this morning. It’s expected @NHLJets Head Coach Rick Bowness will announce his retirement today. Bowness has coached over 2600 games in the NHL and is a Jack Adams Award finalist for the first time. Great man. Great career.” Not long after, the Winnipeg Jets posted a thank you video and confirmed the news with a statement.
Pierre LeBrun notes that Bowness was leaning towards retirement in 2022 after leaving Dallas but the lure to coach Winnipeg was too great for him.
As for what happens with the Jets’ roster this summer, Murat Ates of The Athletic believes the team has several untouchables. Nikolaj Ehlers is not among them. He will be shopped and likely moved before the NHL Draft on June 28-29. He writes:
Winnipeg has floated Ehlers’ name in trade talks before. Now, with one year left on his deal and at least some concern about the team’s ability to retain him, I think Ehlers is Winnipeg’s best trade chip for repairing its defence and/or picking up a first-round pick in the draft.
source – ‘Winnipeg Jets roster tiers and offseason decisions: Who stays? Who goes?’ – Murat Ates – The Athletic – 05/03/2024
He also believes that Tyler Toffoli is not returning and the Jets are OK with that. He started the playoffs strong but didn’t finish strong and committing to him is not in the cards.
Tons of Maple Leafs Chatter
Elliotte Friedman said on a recent 32 Thoughts podcast that the Maple Leafs are looking at changes, specifically how the top management hierarchy is structured. Brendan Shanahan won’t necessarily be replaced, but he could be gone. That would give more autonomy to Brad Treliving without the overriding approval of a President of Hockey Ops.
Friedman also thinks there’s a mutual interest in Tyler Bertuzzi and Max Domi staying, he said the Leafs’ organization loves Jake McCabe both on and off the ice and wouldn’t be shocked to see them offer him an extension. “Lots of the “us against the world” attitude when they were down 3-1 came from him”. Sheldon Keefe could be let go and Craig Berube is a front-runner to replace him, and both Mitch Marner and the team may be ready to move on.
TSN’s Chris Johnston noted that “all bets are off” in Toronto where several things could happen this offseason. He added that Marner is going to take the most heat for the team’s failures.
Golden Knights Offseason Plans
ESPN.com’s Ryan S. Clark and Kristen Shilton believe Vegas Golden Knights general manager Kelly McCrimmon has some big decisions to make this summer. Always a team that moves pieces around, there are questions about what they do with pending unrestricted free agents Jonathan Marchessault and Chandler Stephenson.
Marchessault is a former Conn Smythe Trophy Winner and productive piece that will attract plenty of off-season interest. He’ll be in line for a significant raise, but the Golden Knights committed big money to players they acquired, such as Tomas Hertl and Noah Hanifin. They have limited cap space — less than $900k of projected cap space with 20 active roster players under contract.
They are in a similar situation with Stephenson, who’s proven himself as a solid two-way forward.
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